Bangkok Police Hunt Drug Smuggler After Crystal Meth Found in Tamarind Jars

Bangkok's police chief has ordered an urgent hunt for the person who allegedly hired a parcel courier to transport goods from Thailand to Japan after more than 2 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine were discovered concealed inside jars of tamarind paste.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, ordered officers, including Pol. Maj. Gen. Theeradech Thumsuthee, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Pol. Maj. Gen. Chaiya Phetpanya, Commander of Metropolitan Police Division 7, and the Metropolitan Police Narcotics Suppression Centre, to investigate the case. The directive follows a formal police report filed by a courier who transports goods between Thailand and Japan.

On 3 July, while in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, the complainant was contacted through Facebook by the user of an account named "Chayamin Pai", who asked her to carry a parcel from Thailand to Japan.

On 4 July, a ride-hailing delivery driver dropped off the parcel, packaged in a cardboard box, at The Trust Residence Pinklao on Borommaratchachonnani Road in Bangkok Noi district after allegedly being hired by the Facebook user.

The courier returned to The Trust Residence Pinklao on 6 July to collect the parcel before her trip to Japan. The following day, while inspecting and repacking the items into her luggage, she opened the box and found six large jars labelled as liquid tamarind paste, along with instant noodles, sweets, jelly, dried coconut, snacks, seasonings, peanut butter and herbal inhalers.

She became suspicious because the tamarind jars were unusually heavy. After opening one jar, she found a layer of liquid tamarind paste covering the top. However, after reaching deeper inside, she discovered a plastic bag containing a white solid substance.

Recognising that something was wrong, she returned everything to the jars, repacked the box with the other items, placed it back beneath The Trust Residence Pinklao, and departed for Japan as scheduled.

After returning to Thailand on 11 July, she reported the incident to police. On 13 July, officers accompanied her to inspect the parcel, locating the 40-by-60-centimetre cardboard box where she had left it.

Inside the six 1,500-gram plastic jars, investigators discovered crystal methamphetamine concealed beneath the tamarind paste. The concealed packages weighed approximately 331.3 grammes, 341.1 grammes, 354.5 grammes, 413.1 grammes, 318.4 grammes and 300.6 grammes respectively, with a combined weight of about 2.059 kilogrammes.

Investigation Inspector Mangkorn Panthurasri of Bang Yi Khan Police Station, together with the investigating team, seized the evidence and tested the substance using a methamphetamine field test kit, which returned a positive result.

The narcotics were seized as evidence, and investigators have filed a criminal complaint against the suspect, particularly the user of the Facebook account "Chayamin Pai". Authorities are now intensifying their search for the suspect.